Thursday Stuff...

I finished the shrug, and dampened to block. When I tried it on after drying, it fits perfectly. I like that the back dip well down my back, so that it looks more like a cropped cardi' than a shrug with minimal shaping. I even posed with it on my deck swing, even though it is very hot and humid today.





I also have a photo of the newest 'bird' to venture to our bird feeder. My husband got a bird feeder for the park across the street in the hopes of luring the sparrows that make such a racket on the eves trough above our bedroom window at dawn. He fills it at night in the dark and all the birds are busy around it first thing in the morning.... it works to reduce the noise! So the small birds knock the larger seeds to the ground and the bigger birds peck at the grass for the loose seeds. We have had red wing blackbirds and morning doves and rabbits and squirrels and even a goose visit. But the other morning we were up at 6:30 for golf and we saw this...






A wild turkey. He flew in and shooed away all the other critters and birds and started feasting on the dropped seeds. I have never seen one, much less in our rather well developed neighbourhood!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Wasn't it just days ago I was whining about the cold, totally sick to death of long pants and sweaters when it is spring fer gosh sakes... Now it has gone from chilly to blistering hot and we have had the air conditioning on since Friday. I finished my silk hoody and I love it, but can't bear to wear it long enough to snap a photo that would accompany the pattern, so be patient. I will have it on the blog in 2 to 3 days when the heatwave breaks! Meanwhile, I shot 2 great games of golf last week, an 81 and an 88! (both lower than the temperature outside!) I missed Thursday for work and Saturday for a visit to Waterloo to see baby-girl at her new store location.

I have been working on the quilt wrap and still love the feel of it, although the thought of wearing the mohair in this heat is slowing me down.

And I finished the stainless steel scarf....I just need to lightly felt the middle part -it has merino wool knit with the silk-wrapped stainless steel.

Another chilly sunday...

I am fed up of these cold weekends... Golf this morning was long pant, sweater and windbreaker to start, and I managed to remove the outer jacket, but regretted on some into-the-wind holes. Shot a nice 87, but whined about the cold all the way...

Still knitting the silk hoody and the Quilt wrap, but spent a bit of time oogling a new bit of electronic candy, newly available in Canada. It the Reader by Sony. An electronic book, that accepts downloads of eBooks. Facinating to me, as I love to read, but the paper pileup becomes a problem. I am not good with the library, never available during open hours, and never finish books on time, and never find the title I want- when I want it. eBooks seem the perfect solution for me. The sony site (canada) offers the digital book for delivery and also the ebook downloads and they seem to have all the titles I want.... I will be checking this further, but it has me excited so far. Have not found a downside.

You can also get 100 "classic" books for free when you register your digital book. That alone offsets the cost of the hardware, so makes it all the more intiguing. If only there were knitting books.... hmmm.

Swatch and Cosmo

I found some yarn that may be perfect for the Interweave Knits Roped Shell... Some fine superwash merino and some hand dyed (by me) yarn. So I swatched it and it is close, so it may work.... I like the way the hand dyed makes the lines all different colours. It looks very different from the colour in the yarns of the pattern.

I spent most of Monday visiting my daughter at her house in Waterloo (where she goes to University), and she has a summer houseguest, Cosmo. He is a conure and such entertainment! He loves to climb on shoulders and preen and cuddle. He's eating cheese on Robin's shoulder. He loves attention and squalks really loudly if he wants something. Still, how cute is this...

Sock Ponderings

I have knit many socks and used many yarns. It seemed a good idea to consolidate my sock theories on one page (since I am still plugging away at the noro sweater, and the photos of progress would be more than boring at this point). First, my favourite sock yarn: I love them all, but like the feel in hand of Austermann STEP. It is 75% wool, and 25% nylon with Aloe Vera and Jojoba oils added (the oils remain after many washings) and I like the chunky, uneven striping without being too busy, and that the second will look EXACTLY like the first (not always a given). The first photo are my (well worn) Step socks. The second shows a pair made of left over Step yarn (the yardage is enough for one pair of ladies socks, and half a second pair) and left over brown and the toes are leftover hand dyed. Nice mix. The last photo is of my fave bright hand dyed, Red, orange and yellow, dyed into Patons Kroy, the one I use the most for hand dying.

The patterns for socks are many, but the socks were knit with my most common pattern, my own Favourite. I find it fits snuggly, due to the mild rib throughout, and works for any yarn, except the details, fairisle self striping yarns.

I always have a pair of socks on the go, no matter what else I am knitting, and most of my friends and family are in line for 'just one more pair'.

On a last note: One more gratuitous Maui photo... the vacation is over but the jet lag remains.... golf in Maui, mmmmmmmmmm

Maui Wow-y

Been away for a bit... Rick and I were in Maui, golfing and snorkeling and soaking up the constant 85F days!
This is the view from the course, overlooking the ocean and the edge of Haleakala Volcano.
The top edge of the volcano, is 10,000 feet high, and the windy (35 switch-backs) road seems to go on forever and drives through the clouds. Very cool. We played golf every day except the mountain drive day, and explored the many beaches and parks and watched surfers in the afternoon. What a fabulous place.





Here is a photo of the knitting I took (and mostly did at the airports and on the plane) not too much knitting time, as we were outside most of the day, and in the bar for happy hour at sunset. (Moose McGillicuddy's - $3 Mai-tai's!) More about the new sweater later... I am still jet lagged from the red eye home, via Kona, Chicago and Buffalo. I looked for yarn shops, but only found a quilt shop that had a bit of novelty yarn.... I must admit, I did not look too hard, and did not shop very much, I prefer to be outside and use my camera for souvenirs....





thus... a hike over lava rocks that gets pounded by the ocean, the trail goes on for miles....







And a valley carved into the west Volcano, with incredibly steep walls and wind whipping down the river. The heights were dizzying.




And the flowers growing on our Lanai. (patio). I would recommend the Maui Kamaole condo, central location, and full facilities (I like to eat breakfast and lunch in, and we BBQ'd steaks a couple of times.)

Aloha!

Random Acts of Knitting

When I was young and before I was a knitter, my mother would pick up needles everytime she heard someone was expecting a baby. There were cardigans and blankets and hats and booties. She knit for the hairdresser's daughter (whom she had never met) and neighbours and vague acquaintances. It was what you do to welcome every new baby to the world. So I became one of these knitters. I presented baby knitwear to everyone I knew who was expecting. Even if I did not know them enough to be invited to a shower. This seemed as natural as breathing to me. But I often got an unexpected response. Tears or speachlessness. I guess it is not as common as it was in Mom's days (maybe it wasn't that common even then?). The recipients were in awe that I would spend so much time making something soft and wooly for their unborn child. Little do the Muggles (non-knitters) know that baby things are ten times faster than knitting for adults, and can be created from leftover stash. Baby is warm AND I put that last ball of cashmerino to amazingly good use. My last gift was a baby blanket for Lori, and she had a lovely reaction, almost tears and joy that this was the first (probably only) knitted gift, and she loved it. She has since had her baby, Chloe, and brought her at 12 days old to visit me at work. What a delight for me. Ah, random acts of knitting. We should all commit more of this.

Not to be confused with the "drive-by knitting". This is when a bad situation screams to be corrected with wool: as in: your friend gets a fabulous new golf baf in black and brilliant yellow - BUT her head covers are the boring black manufactured Ping covers. To rectify this glaring faux pas, I found yellow eyelash and made a set of Wood Hoods, and secretly replaced the Pings with the new covers. I was long gone by the time she arrived at the club and found them, but my fingerprints were all over the wool, so she knew who to blame (and thank!).

I'm not admitting anything, but if anyone found some soggy Ping headcovers, washed up on the beach in Port Dalhousie, I hope they are not reading this.

Yarn In the Mail :)

I ordered in some lovely new SILK. It is a house yarn from Ram Wools, called Tweed Seta and is 100% silk. The ball band says 50gm is 93m, but the web site states 153m, and I think that is more accurate. I will find out as I knit how far it goes. Here is a photo of the bag of yummy silkiness, and a quick swatch with stocking stitch and seed stitch. (Just playing around to see how it feels and knits and drapes) I did it on 4 mm needles, as the 5mm suggested looked too large for this yarn.

So some may wonder what the first step to designing a new sweater may be. The swatch gives me the idea of how the yarn will feel. Will it be stiff (hold a tailored structure or cable well) or soft and drapey (better for slouchy sweatshirt style designs). This one seems more the latter... so I start with that idea, then sketch the pattern, then choose the fit (snug, loose, baggy). This one will be a loose fit, and using the gauge, and the measurements (here's where the mathematician in me shows up) calculate the number of stitches to make the measurements happen. Then I cast on and work it up, checking as I go, and sometimes changing my mind on the details. Stay tuned!

Bilingual Knitter....

I find it difficult sometimes, the way knitting needles are not universally sized, and some patterns mention a needle size without stating US, or Metric. We usually have to do a bit of detective work to understand fully, check the gauge, or research the yarn. I pride myself with being bilingual in knitting needle sizes, only looking up the more obscure 13US/9mm, and only have a tough time with the elusive 7mm = ???? Being Canadian, I tend to "get" the metric numbers, as they relate to the ACTUAL diameter of the sticks. I am also quite Bilingual with the 50gm / 2oz skeins, and can convert Kg to Pounds and back. Handy when ordering full cones of lace weight and knowing if it's enough for a wrap or full size triangle shawl. I can do the length of sleeve in centimetres or inches. And I understand that 25 Celsius and 80 Fahrenheit are pretty much a nice sunny summer day. I also can make my car go 100 KPH or 60 MPH, and know when it's OK to do more than that (most of the time).

So, if there was an official vote, I would make all the needles metric, and balls of yarn grams, and length of sleeves centemetres.... and I definately like driving 100 kph, as it sounds way faster than 60 mph.

Works in Progress: Here's the stainless steel scarf so far....

Oh and..

You would think being Canadian would also have me bilingual in French and English, but other than recognising the french side of the cereal box and turning it around, not so much.

Au revoir.